Radiological Response and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio as Predictive Factors for Progression-Free and Overall Survival in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated with Sunitinib

Abstract

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents 2–3% of all malignancies. Most RCC-related deaths are caused by metastases of the disease. Studies suggest that inflammation-related parameters are of prognostic significance in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients. Neutrophilia and thrombocytosis are markers of systemic inflammation that accompanies cancer, while lymphopenia is related to dysfunctions of the immune system. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) thus seem particularly interesting from a clinical perspective. The goal of this study was to determine if the response to therapy, consisting of reductions in radiologically assessed tumor burden and in inflammation-related parameters after 12 weeks of treatment with sunitinib, has a predictive value for outcome. One hundred thirty-one mRCC patients treated with the first-line sunitinib were evaluated. Inflammation-related parameters and radiologic response were correlated with treatment outcomes, progression-free, and overall survival. We found that the longest median progression-free survival of 37 months (Q1; Q3–15; not reached) and overall survival of 40 months (Q1; Q3–26; not reached) were achieved by patients who had either partial or complete response according to RECIST 1.1 and NLR lower than 1.64. In conclusion, the study confirmed that both objective response and lower grade of inflammation during treatment are predictive of better outcomes in mRCC patients treated with sunitinib.